How the Choctaws Saved the Irish

We're overstating the case there—the Choctaws didn't save the Irish, but they sure tried to help. The year was 1847, and the the Great Irish Famine (sometimes called the Irish Potato Famine by non-Irish) was in its second year. Individuals in the Choctaw Nation—with the hardships of The trail of Tears, 16 years earlier, perhaps still in mind—learned of the catastrophe in Ireland and sent $170 of their own money to help.